The Westward Expansion Quiz

Go West, young man — as the saying goes. Or instead of doing that, just take this quiz; it'll save you a lot of time and rations of salt pork. See how much you know about the cowboys and pioneers who traveled West and the native peoples who lived there long before the migrants came in.

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Question 1 of 30

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson did what to increase the size of the United States?

made the Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana territory was about 828,000 square miles (2,144,510 square kilometers).

bought Texas

declared that all western states had a right to the lands touching their borders

Question 2 of 30

How much did the purchase cost?

$5 million

$15 million

It cost $15 million. Totally worth it for Oklahoma.

$50 million

Question 3 of 30

In 1804, who explored these new Western territories and beyond?

David Thompson

Lewis and Clark

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark journeyed through the land, sparking interest in Western expansion.

David Douglas

Question 4 of 30

What was "manifest destiny" defined as?

the right from God to ordain a president

the right from God to take land from native peoples

the inevitability of the U.S. expansion west to the Pacific

First coined in 1845, it became a kind of de facto foreign policy until the end of the 19th century.

Question 5 of 30

After what war did westward expansion really pick up?

World War I

the War of 1812

Places like Illinois, Indiana and Mississippi began to fill up after the second war with the British was resolved.

the Civil War

Question 6 of 30

Before the Oregon Trail and other overland routes were mapped, how did white settlers get to Oregon and California territories?

No white people were there until after Lewis and Clark.

They paid natives to get them there.

They sailed around the southern tip of South America.

White settlers and even travelers made their way to the West before Lewis and Clark, but the journey was by boat and took nearly a year.

Question 7 of 30

In 1824, trappers publicized what important breakthrough to westward expansion?

the newfangled covered wagon

a lower (and easier) pass through the Rocky Mountains

Finding a less dangerous way to cross the continental divide was critical to white western settlement.

instructions for fording rivers

Question 8 of 30

What telling change occurred in American policies towards Native Americans in 1815?

American Indian affairs were now handled by the War Department as opposed to the State Department.

Suddenly, Native American peoples were formally treated as adversaries.

Native Americans were no longer allowed to vote.

Native Americans were given the vote.

Question 9 of 30

How did new land from Louisiana and Florida effect native tribes?

They got to stay in their native lands.

White settlers had to learn to coexist with them.

It gave the government more places to "resettle" tribes it wanted to displace.

So hint for future answers: Any question about how Native American tribes were treated can pretty much be answered with "negatively."

Question 10 of 30

Five tribes in the Southeast United States refused to trade their land for western prairie resettlement. How many native people died in the subsequent forced march west?

4,000

10,000

up to 25,000

Nearly 100,000 Native Americans were subject to forced removal, with up to a quarter of them dying along the way.

Question 11 of 30

Cowboys came from a Spanish tradition of cattle herders known as what?

vaqueros

The vaqueros were named for vaca, or "cow" in Spanish.

conquistadors

quixotes

Question 12 of 30

What staple of cowboy life was once native to the North American continent?

cattle

horses

While it's true that Europeans brought horses when settling North America, horses were actually native to the continent before they went extinct there after the last ice age.

spurs

Question 13 of 30

Westward expansion of American people also translated to westward expansion of what terrible part of American society?

slavery

States like Texas and Louisiana were settled by slave owners.

legal bureaucracy

poor healthcare

Question 14 of 30

How did the westward expansion change cowboy life?

Cowboys started wearing cowboy hats.

Cowboys had to move cattle farther north and west to find large ranges.

As more people bought private land in places like Oklahoma and Texas, herds were pushed west to find open range.

More cowboys started working with native tribes for wages.

Question 15 of 30

Before the late 19th century, how did cattle herding work?

Cattle roamed freely, and if you caught 'em, they were yours.

Open range was seriously open.

Cattle owners kept their cattle in pens.

Cattle were community property, and towns or settlements shared the meat.

Question 16 of 30

What did an "assimilation" policy entail for Native Americans in American history?

separating native children from their families

killing bison

both

By depleting the native food source and essentially kidnapping native children and forcing them into boarding schools, "assimilation" was supposed to make Native people "white."

Question 17 of 30

What's a roundup?

Cowboys round up the cattle every night to bed down.

an annual or semiannual way to brand and sort cattle

In a roundup, calves are weaned, cattle are cut from the herd to market and animals are sorted or branded.

lassoing a cow

Question 18 of 30

The Dawes Act gave Native Americans what?

a head of cattle to raise

allotments of private property on reservations

The idea was for everyone to farm their land and live like white Americans.

schools for native children

Question 19 of 30

Why did the Dawes Act fail?

Much of the land wasn't good for farming.

A lot of the land was sold to non-native peoples.

both

Both of these are true. "Surplus" land was also given to whites for an extremely cheap rate.

Question 20 of 30

Prior to the Dawes Act, Native Americans held roughly 100 million acres (40 million hectares) of land. How much of that acreage did they lose from 1887 to 1932, after the Dawes Act was in effect?

one-third

half

nearly two-thirds

Native Americans lost two-thirds of their land to whites after the Dawes Act and various amendments to it.

Question 21 of 30

How did the railways affect cowboys?

More wealth brought larger ranches with more cattle.

Cattle were decimated by train traffic.

Cowboys took part in extremely large drives to get the cattle to railheads.

With the rise of meat packing and processing plants, there was an increased need to get cattle to the railroad for shipment.

Question 22 of 30

What was the Ghost Dance?

a made up Hollywood idea

a Sioux ritual

a Native American religious movement that hoped to rid the natives of white oppression

Originally from the Paiute tribe, the Ghost Dance promised the return of native power and ways of life.

Question 23 of 30

How many Native Americans were killed in the 1890 Wounded Knee hostilities?

more than 200

The Native Americans had surrendered, but a small skirmish started a horrible massacre.

48

72

Question 24 of 30

During the 1832 Black Hawk War, Native Americans attempted to regain tribal land in what state?

Illinois

More than 1,000 Native Americans, led by Sauk warrior Black Hawk, were involved in the attempt to regain Illinois land.

Mississippi

Missouri

Question 25 of 30

What famous American was in the militia that stopped those Native Americans?